Portlaoise 10

Tallaght Women 55 

Tries: Megan Fogarty 3, Aisling Pyke 3, Louise Leonard Flood, Niamh Moore 2
Conversion: Grainne Leonard Flood 5

Sunday, 9th November, 2025
Leinster League Division 5/6 Super Six Group A
Togher

The Tallaght women’s team took on Portlaoise away in Division 5/6 Super Six Group A looking for a win to confirm their place in Division 5 for the rest of the season. 

Tallaght started the game under pressure in their own twenty two defending against wave after wave of Portlaoise attacks. But the defence held out and when the ball went loose, it was fed to the wing where Megan Fogarty took off down the wing and ran all the way in for a try. Grainne Leonard Flood converted to give Tallaght a 7-0 lead. Tallaght were struggling to get off of their own half but eventually some clever kicking got them into the Portlaoise half and Aisling Pyke broke through to score a try to make it 12-0.

Portlaoise came back hard at Tallaght though and after several phases, they took advantage of some narrow Tallaght defence to score a try in the corner to make it 12-5. Tallaght hit back when Aisling Pyke scored her second try of the match from close range to make it 17-7. Then, in Tallaght’s best attacking move of the half, Louise Leonard Flood put Megan Fogarty away down the wing to score her second try of the match. Grainne Leonard Flood converted to make the half-time score 24-5 to Tallaght. 

Tallaght kept dominating in the second half with Sam Ledden putting in several big carries. Louise Leonard Flood scored from close range and her wife Grainne converted to make it 31-5. Then hard-working winger Niamh Moore broke down the blindside for a deserved try to make it 36-5. To their credit Portlaoise kept fighting and they regathered a restart and broke through for a try to make it 36-10. But then Aisling Pyke took a superb line from a ruck and burst through to score her hat-trick try under the posts which Grainne Leonard Flood converted to make it 43-10. There was time for Niamh Moore to score her second try and for Megan Fogarty to complete her own hat-trick, with Grainne Leonard Flood converting the last try to make the final score 55-10 to Tallaght. The win means Tallaght have qualified to compete in Division 5 this season, with a game to spare. 

In the absence of Head Coach Adam Nolan, youths Coach Ken McGovern stood in for the day and he was pleased with the performance. “We struggled to implement the gameplan in the first half. But the second half showed a big improvement in teamwork and we played some great rugby and scored some nice tries. We lost three players at the last minute to sickness but the fifteen players we had all contributed to a fine win. In particular I want to mention Marleny Chacon Mayorga who made her first Tallaght appearance today. Ellen Kelly and Amy Dalton also made their first appearances for Tallaght after some years away and Faith Perrin, another new player this season, had a fine game. A special mention also to Clodagh Cullagh who came in today and played the full match and put in a great shift.”

“It was a hard game to pick the player of the match. Aisling Pyke and Megan Gogarty both scored hat-tricks, Niamh Moore got two and Abbie Keeley and Lorraine McManus both had big games. But the team decided they wanted to reward physicality in the tackle today and so Sam Ledden gets the award for another monster effort in both attack and defence.”

Player of the match: Samantha Ledden

Tallaght RFC

Martina Fitzpatrick
Samantha Ledden
Faith Perrin
Kim Letterfield
Ellen Kelly
Louise Leonard Flood
Lorraine McManus

Graine Flood Leonard
Abbie Keeley
Aisling Pyke
Megan Fogarty
Clodagh Cullagh
Niamh Moore

Replacements:

Amy Dalton
Marleny Chacon Mayorga